Transportation Services Index (TSI) Rose 0.1 Percent in April from
March
The Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 0.1 percent in April to 111.7
(2000=100) from the March level of 111.6, the fourth increase in the past six months, the
U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported
today (Table 1).

BTS, a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration,
reported that the April level of 111.7 for the combined freight and passenger index was
2.8 percent higher than the April 2004 level of 108.7 (Table 2). The April 2005 level was
13.7 percent higher than the April level of the base year of 2000 (Table 3).

TSI is a single seasonally adjusted index of the month-to-month changes in the
output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad,
air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline, and local transit.

The index includes historic data from 1990 to the present. The TSI is still under
development and is considered experimental. In this month’s release, BTS conducted its
first annual revision to the TSI in which index numbers through December 2004 were
revised to reflect revisions to the source data and changes in the estimated seasonal
factors. Also, beginning with this release, the base year has been changed from 1996 to
2000. The index now measures changes from the monthly average for the base year of
2000. Previous releases measured changes from the base year of 1996. More
information about the annual revision and its effects on index numbers is provided on the
BTS web site under TSI Annual Revision at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.
The next release is scheduled for Aug. 8.

Transportation Services Index for Freight

The TSI for freight rose 0.1 percent to 112.6 in April from the March level of
112.5, the fourth increase in the last six months (Table 1). The April 2005 level of 112.6
is 1.6 percent higher than the April 2004 level of 110.9 (Table 4).
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Transportation Services Index for Passengers

The TSI for passengers rose 0.1 percent to 109.3 in April from the March level of
109.2, the second consecutive monthly increase (Table 1). The April 2005 level of 109.3
is 5.6 percent higher than the April 2004 level of 103.4 (Table 5).

Notes: TSI numbers for January 2005 (Total, Freight, and Passenger) were
revised because of revisions in the output data of the component transportation services
and the change of TSI base year from 1996 to 2000. The January TSI is 111.6, revised
from 129.7 reported in the June release to 128.4 with 1996 as base year and then rebased
to 2000 as base year. The January Freight TSI is 112.8, revised from 130.9 to 128.8 and
then rebased to 2000 as base year. The January Passenger TSI is 108.4, revised from
127.4 to 127.6 and then rebased to 2000 as base year. Since TSI numbers for January
2005 were still preliminary in the June release, these revisions are part of the month to
month revision rather than the annual revision. The TSI for February, March and April
are preliminary.

TSI revision policy: TSI is updated monthly with the latest three months’ index
numbers considered preliminary. Each month BTS releases the latest preliminary TSI,
and replaces the oldest preliminary TSI with a revised TSI. All other revisions are held
until an annual comprehensive revision of the TSI which will be released as part of the
following July TSI release. The numbers in this release through December 2004 reflect
the annual comprehensive revision. More information about the revision policy is
available at http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

Table 3: Percent Changes in the Transportation Services Index from Previous Years
to 2005 April to April

Percent change to Since
April 2005 April . . . Duration
2.8 2004 One Year
11.8 2003 Two Years
14.3 2002 Three Years
12.4 2001 Four Years
13.7 2000 Five Years
11.9 1999 Six Years
14.6 1998 Seven Years
22.6 1997 Eight Years
29.9 1996 Nine Years
SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The Transportation Services Index (TSI) is a measure of the month-to-month changes in
the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries.

The TSI tells us how the output of transportation services has increased or decreased
from month to month. The index can be examined together with other economic indicators to
produce a better understanding of the current and future course of the economy. The movement
of the index over time can be compared with other economic measures to understand the
relationship of changes in transportation output to changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The TSI is still under development and is therefore considered experimental. It is being
examined for refinements in data sources, methodologies and interpretations.